Stephens, J. and Stephens, S.S. (2005). Cook-A-Doodle-Doo!. [New York]. Voyager.

This twist on the classic fairy tale, The Little Red Hen, Rooster is tired of chicken feed, so he enlists the help of his friends to make strawberry shortcake. The animals aren’t much help with the baking, so Rooster must teach them what many of the steps in the recipe actually mean. This makes for many fun mistakes, as they try to finish the treat.

I chuckled out loud several times while reading this fun book. The well paced story has just the right amount of predictability and humor, and the illustrations add much to the plot. It is great for young children who, like Iguana, often visualize literal translations of common puns like beating an egg or a cup of milk. I love the idea of including the actual recipe with the story, and the detailed instructions that are included in the margin are a great compliment to both the story and the recipe. Overall, I found this to be a very enjoyable book.